sharing my imperfect journey through life.

Contentment.

I was reading this post the other day by The Art in Life. You should take a moment and read it. It’s inspiring.

What I love most about it is that it’s a reminder of our focus. Where are we spending our time? What is consuming our thoughts? As Dave Ramsey says, where is your money being spent? It is very easy, especially in our world today, to be completely focused on how you look, where you live, what you do and do not have. I’m not saying this to point the finger at any of you. I fall victim to this too.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have the perfect wardrobe to find the perfect outfits in every morning with the perfect I-just-rolled-out-of-bed-but-I-didn’t-have-to-do-anything hair? You could leave your perfect house, kiss your perfect husband goodbye before heading to your perfect job in your perfect car. That kinda makes me sick. Like Desperate Housewives gross. Totally fake and disconnected from reality. Honestly, a little too perfect.

Contentment is defined as being {mentally and emotionally} satisfied with what one is or has; not wanting more or anything else. It’s mental and emotional // the cognitive psychology addict in me is excited. The reality of changing your thought and emotional patterns is difficult. How does this happen? What does it look like on a daily basis?

The first step is prayer. Pray that you will be content with what you have, who you are, what you look like. Christ wants you to be content in Him. There are so many scriptures about contentment. God knows it’s a struggle for all of us– hence His never ending commentary on it. If you’re looking for a starting place, you could follow the life of Paul. I know I’ve talked about him before. He’s a wonderful, imperfect man. We can learn a lot from Paul. Start with 1 Corinthians.

The next step would be to get rid of stumbling blocks. De-clutter your life. I love how Hannah from The Art of Life put it: “… clutter, or more specifically, excess, is the enemy of contentment. Humans are by nature prone to excess. We want more and we want it faster, better, more fashionably, etc. All of this excess just leaves us wanting still more and we live in cluttered castles of stuff and plans, feeling desperately discontent.” If we try to get rid of things and only stick with what is needed, doesn’t that help change our focus from our wants to our needs?

There is another blog I need to mention. Living Well Spending Less. If you haven’t heard of her, you should. She blogged about “The 40 Hanger Closet”. Now, technically, this isn’t a new concept to me. While I was attending school at Point Loma Nazarene University, we had this speaker come and talk to us about how he lived with only 200 items. That included everything. Pots and pans, clothing, everything. It’s shocking to imagine. Even limiting your closet to only 40 items kinda sounds crazy. But stop and think for a moment. You pick to keep the things you actually wear/use/etc. What is your focus? How does that make you feel?

To me, that kinda sounds freeing. I get to focus on being the best Lindsay I can be. I am content with the choices I have made. My mind is free to worry, think, and be focused on other more important things.

lindsay ralene.

I am a twenty-something newlywed and a boy mom to our son, Nolan, with a heart for the creative, finding natural solutions for daily life, and want to glorify God with the gifts that he has given me. This blog is my outlet for my adventures, creative endeavors, and a place to reflect on where life takes me and share some tidbits along the way.